A light out of Darkness
by sparkycola1
Summary: Greg Angst- Why won't Greg tell anybody what's wrong? What IS wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Title: A Light out of darkness

Author: Sparkycola

Rating: PG-13 to be on the safe side.

Genre: Angsty goodness :)

Spoilers: 'Stalker' and 'Play with fire'

Beta'd by: Vicki- thanks!! 

Archiving: ScarletRose4- go ahead, anyone else please contact and ask first.

Disclaimer: Sadly, the luverly Greggo is not mine :( but c'est la vie...and neither are the rest. Except Rachel. 

Please R & R... I live for reviews :)

****

**Chapter One**

Grissom looked up from his case file upon entering the lab. Although Greg's flinch didn't go unnoticed by Grissom, it politely went unmentioned. He looked at Greg expectantly. Uncharacteristically nervous, Greg stood up and searched through a pile of evidence bags near the end of the desk, mumbling as he went.

"I uh...I got a partial fingerprint on the pen, Anthony Barker, and the...the metal you gave me is uh...is zinc."

Greg dropped some of the bags on the floor. Grabbing one he passed it to Grissom who was looking at him strangely. 

"Greg- Are you alright?"

"Yes."

Greg replied, a little too quickly. 

"You've been a ball of nervous energy all night."

Grissom stated as fact. Greg didn't move. There was a short silence between them until Greg said quietly:

"It's not affecting my work."

Grissom became increasingly worried about the lab tech.

"Well good but that's not really the point. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm fine. Honestly."

Greg's voice had an irritated edge to it. Grissom stared at him. He had bags under his eyes and he was so on edge he looked as though today were his first day. Greg fidgeted under the stare.

"I'll take that as a no. Greg, if you need some time off, you've still got all of your holiday time left."

Greg seemed to consider it for a moment.

"I...I'm good."

Grissom looked at him in concern. Greg tried to look relaxed as though everything were normal and added:

"Seriously."

Grissom knew he was lying, but if Greg didn't want to tell him he certainly wasn't going to force him.

"You know where my office is if you want to talk about it."

And on that note, he left.

 Greg closed his eyes, but abruptly opened them again when he nearly fell asleep. Taking a deep breath he decided to venture to the break room and grab another cup of coffee.

*********************************************************************

He met Nick in the break room and forced a tired smile.

"Hey Greggo, what's up?"

"Oh, the usual. Testing for DNA."

"You look tired man, what were you up to when you should have been sleeping...if you don't mind my asking..."

Nick smirked, but it turned into a frown when he noticed the look on Greg's face.

"You ok?"

"Fine."

Nick watched as Greg downed most of his coffee in one go. He remembered the favour he wanted to ask.

"Oh yeah, would you do me a favour after shift, my car's in the garage- Cathy gave me a lift in but she's on for another hour after me...?"

Nick wondered if Greg would tell him what was wrong on the short journey home.

"...I mean I know it's a little out of your way but..."

"Sure."

Greg finished his coffee and left without another word, leaving another concerned colleague and friend in his wake.

*********************************************************************

After shift Greg and Nick met out in the car park. The air was fresh- a new day in Las Vegas. As the sun rose and the city came to life the tired couple got into Greg's small sky blue car and Greg drove by Nick's directions. About five minutes in and Greg suddenly said:

"My brakes don't work."

"What?!"

Greg repeated himself.

"My brakes don't work. I guess the garages will be full this weekend."

"Second left. Well, my house is just round that corner. At least we're not going too fast."

"Hey, don't worry. I'll just use the gears to slow down then cut the engines and put on the handbrake."

Nick nodded. 

"Wow, it's like in the movies...except they always crash...hey you can use my driveway to stop completely- it's that one there."

Greg coasted slowly to Nick's slightly uphill driveway and the car came to a stop.

"Good timing huh?"

Greg said. Nick gave him a sideways look.

"I wonder what's up with your brakes. I could take a look..."

"No offence Nick but I'd rather leave it to the professionals."

"It's funny the brakes going like that though."

Greg looked away. Nick continued.

"Hey...you don't think somebody tampered wi-"

"No."

Nick was surprised at his friend's abrupt tone of voice, but figured Greg had thought the same thing and was nervous. He supposed they were both more paranoid and over-sensitive since the Crane incident...

"Mind if I leave my car in your driveway? I can walk home and then call someone to take it to the garage."

Greg sounded exhausted.

"You can use my phone"

Nick looked at him questioningly. Greg looked down and said quietly,

"I just wanna go home."

His friend nodded understandingly. 

"Ok, see you tonight- and get some rest."

Greg nodded and walked away.

*********************************************************************

Greg practically ran home. Nowhere felt safe- he hated the gnawing feeling of fear inside him more and more with each passing second. He was used to it though. What had he done wrong? How could it have turned out like this? He asked himself as he climbed the steep steps to his apartment. He paused at the top of the stairs to catch his breath. His door was directly in front of him about three paces. Greg tiredly started moving again. He turned his house key in the lock and opened the door.

Before he could register the wires in front of him a powerful explosion knocked him flying against the wall. When gravity kicked in he fell like a crash dummy all the way down to the lower part of the steps. A sense of déja-vu entered his mind before he began to lose consciousness. With rubble collapsing on top of him, and certain the darkness enveloping him was death, Greg's last thoughts were of his friends at work, wondering if they knew how much they meant to him, and how they would take his death.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
  
Grissom looked at the clock; his shift ended in ten minutes. Looking back over a file he had read twice before with no success, he sighed. The phone rang and he picked it up willingly, grateful for the interruption.  
  
"Gil? It's me"  
  
Grissom recognised Jim Brass' voice immediately. The fact that his first name had been used made him sit up and pay attention, Brass rarely ever called him Gil.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It's Greg..."  
  
Brass sighed.  
  
"Greg?"  
  
Gil prompted after a pause.  
  
"He's currently under a pile of rubble that used to be his house."  
  
Grissom stood up.  
  
"I'm on my way."  
  
He put the phone down, grabbed a coat and called out to Catherine and Sara. They both looked puzzled and Cathy said:  
  
"Are we going to a crime scene? We only have ten minutes of our shift left- so have you..."  
  
Grissom turned to face them.  
  
"It's Greg- I'll explain in the car."  
  
Cathy and Sara looked at each other in concern before following their boss.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Greg opened his eyes wondering whether he'd gone to heaven or hell. When waves of pain flowed over his entire body he guessed hell. His life hadn't been that bad had it? Slowly he tried to open his eyes. He resisted the urge to cough, until he could no longer. All he could see was darkness. He could feel nothing but pain, and this terrified him. He thought he knew what he'd done to end up in hell. The very way he died had been his fault.  
Greg was powerless to stop the pain, there was nothing he could do but endure it. Surrounded by darkness and with no company but his own mind, tears mixed with blood. He coughed again and heard movement above him. As more debris fell on top of him the surge of pain throughout his body was amplified to the point where he once more lost consciousness.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
As soon as he got out of the car Grissom walked up to Brass; Catherine and Sara in tow.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Before Jim could answer, Cathy nodded towards an apartment building nearby.  
  
"Gil, look."  
  
Grissom looked at the small apartment building in amazement. Surrounded by shocked people and fire engines, the apartment was absolutely fine, except for one corner of it. That one corner simply wasn't there. Covered in dust and rubble, Grissom could actually see a poster on the wall, of what was once Greg's flat. He looked to Brass for answers.  
  
"One of the other residents says she saw Greg come in, then a minute later his apartment blew up. They...they haven't found him yet..."  
  
They stood, silently in shock. After a while Brass continued.  
  
"My guess is door bomb, open the door and the bomb goes off."  
  
Sara found her voice.  
  
"But who would want to kill Greg?"  
  
Grissom shook his head.  
  
"At work he seemed...afraid of something...I just left it..."  
  
Cathy touched his arm.  
  
"Don't blame yourself, we all saw he was on edge. None of us had any idea that this was going to happen."  
  
"His arm was hurt."  
  
Sara blurted out. The others looked at her.  
  
"I brushed by him and he winced in pain."  
  
Before their pooling of information could go any further, they were interrupted by shouts.  
  
"Over here- I've found him!"  
  
The three of them ran over as far as they were allowed, they then flashed their badges and slipped under the tape.  
  
Carefully the firemen freed Greg from the chaos surrounding him.  
  
"We've got a faint pulse...and it's getting weaker..."  
  
The three CSI's looked at their friend in horror. They were used to seeing all kind of horrific things as CSI's, but this was their friend. Somebody so vibrant, somebody so young, covered in blood. They could see the bone sticking out of his leg, and his shirt was in threads. Sara noted the bandage on his arm with deepening curiosity. As they loaded Greg into the ambulance, Grissom turned to them.  
  
"I'm going with him. Call Nick and Warrick and tell them what happened, then get started on this crime scene, I want to know who did this."  
  
He paused.  
  
"Are you happy to work overtime?"  
  
Sara and Cathy both nodded without hesitation, and watched as Grissom got into the front of the ambulance so as not to get in the way of the paramedics working furiously in the back.  
  
As Sara called the others, Cathy looked at the crime scene in front of her and sighed.  
  
TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
  
Nick couldn't sleep, and it was just as well because he hated being jolted awake. As it was he was in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of milk when the phone rang.  
  
"Nick Stokes."  
  
He stated, managing to keep the tiredness from his voice.  
  
"Nick, it's me, Sara. Somebody tried to kill Greg- when he got home he opened the door and a bomb went off...we...we don't know if he's going to make it..."  
  
Sara choked on the words.  
  
"What? ...I was talking to him just a few minutes ago..."  
  
"Somebody tried to kill him Nick. We're at the crime scene now, I know you're off duty but..."  
  
"I'll be down there right away...I just want to check out something first..."  
  
"Ok, thanks. He's at Woodbridge hospital with Grissom at the moment; he was pretty bad Nicky...."  
  
"Don't, Sara. Just...don't. I'll be over in about 45 minutes."  
  
Nick put the phone down. Greg had to make it through. It was that simple. Nick got changed quickly and headed for Greg's car.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Sara, Warrick and Cathy stopped what they were doing as Nick strode purposefully towards them. He told them about the earlier car brakes incident.  
  
"I checked the car and the brakes were tampered with. But the way he was acting, it was like he already knew that."  
  
Cathy frowned.  
  
"That must have been why he's been so uneasy recently...knowing someone's trying to kill you is enough to put anybody on edge. But why didn't he say something? And why would someone try and kill Greg?"  
  
"He was probably too scared to say anything."  
  
Warrick offered, but Sara shook her head.  
  
"No that doesn't make sense, if somebody's trying to kill you what have you got to lose by telling somebody?"  
  
"You'd be risking the life of whoever you tell."  
  
Nick said thoughtfully.  
  
"I'm still not sure about this. And we still have no motive."  
  
Cathy said.  
  
"I agree. Something about this doesn't add up. And surely whoever was trying to kill him knew that tampering with his brakes is only something they do in the movies to kill people?"  
  
Warrick put in. Catherine frowned.  
  
"On the other hand, they left no prints on the bomb. Are they an experienced criminal or not? Wait, Nick when did the two of you pull up into the driveway?"  
  
"About half six."  
  
"And the residents all say they heard an explosion at five past seven. Either they knew the brake thing would fail-"  
  
"Unlikely or else why would they bother?"  
  
Sara put in.  
  
"- Or they were watching Greg that whole time and ran to his flat to rig up a bomb."  
  
Cathy sighed.  
  
"Both seem pretty unlikely, but it had to be one of them. Maybe the bomb was a back-up plan."  
  
She picked up her evidence bags and said:  
  
"Nick and I will go back to the lab and see if we can find a motive, are you two happy to stay here?"  
  
'Not whilst Greg is lying on a hospital bed possibly dying.' All four thought. However Sara and Warrick just nodded and continued work on the crime scene.  
  
TBC 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

When Nick and Cathy got back to the crime lab, perhaps the person most surprised to see them was Ecklie. They explained the situation to him as briefly as possible, and he moved aside.

"By all means carry on."

As they moved past him they heard him mutter:

"He's the only one of your crew I actually like."

Nick was surprised by this; he'd assumed Ecklie would find Greg the most annoying of all of them, but Cathy wasn't and shrugged, saying

"He's a likeable guy. Which is why I think finding a motive is going to be so hard."

They dropped the samples into the DNA lab and headed straight to the computer room. 

"It feels weird doing a background check on Greg."

Nick commented. Cathy didn't reply. 

"Perhaps this isn't going to be as difficult as I first thought. Greg's sure made it into the papers enough times."

"Really?"

Nick asked, leaning forward to read the screen. There was a picture of a teenage girl who had a clear family resemblance to Greg.

**_         "16 year old gets 12 year sentence for murder_**

**_  
_**

_Rachel Sanders, 16, was today sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for the murder of her parents. In court Miss Sanders told of how her parents beat her brother Greg, 18, and tried to beat her. Her older brother however, protected her, and for as long as she can remember has looked after her. On the 5th of February, Rachel watched yet again as her protector and guardian struggled to fight back against his own parents, and something snapped. In rage she grabbed what she could and killed her parents from behind. Years of bitterness went into each blow as she watched the life drain from the faces of her parents. The judge commented on the lack of remorse from the girl, even now convinced she did the right thing and sentenced her to twelve years. Her brother, Greg Sanders, does not wish to say anything, which is perhaps understandable. In one week he has lost his whole family one way or another. The silver lining to this tragedy is that Greg has now inherited enough money to go to college where he will study forensic science with chemistry."_

  


Nick and Cathy were speechless. They re-read the passage. They looked at each other, wondering if the other had known about any of this.

"I'm his best friend, but Greg never told me anything about this."

Nick said quietly.

"Me either. I can't believe somebody as kind and cheerful as Greg came out of..."

She motioned to the screen, trying to find the right word.

"...that."

"His parents were...sadistic and his sister...wait- his sister, is she still in prison?"

Cathy looked up Rachel Sanders. After a few minutes she found something.

**  
**

**_     "RACHEL Sanders was let out of prison this morning_**_, having served 9 years of a 12 year sentence. The 25 year old notoriously murdered her parents when she was 16 for harming her older brother who had protected her for years. Prison officials claim Miss Sanders may have been let out 3 years ago had it not been for a series of prison riots at the start of her sentence which she was found to have started. Miss Sanders told the press that she would like to put the past behind her, and hoped others would do the same."_

_  
_

Cathy stood up.

"That was written yesterday Nick. I don't know about you but that is too much of a coincidence for me."

Nick nodded.

"But we still don't have a motive, if Greg protected her and raised her for all those years why would she want to kill him?"

Cathy thought.

"...Look at it from her point of view...she was 16, had her whole life ahead of her, but then she kills her parents. She hated them not because they hurt her, but because they hurt Greg, and she loved Greg like a parent figure..."

"And Greg probably hated them too."

  
  


"He may have done but he didn't kill them. He was the one they hurt, to him life must have been a nightmare- every day he had violent parents to face and a little sister to take care of, when he was just a kid as well, but he didn't kill them..."

"Well obviously Greg didn't kill them- Greg would never kill anybody!!"

Nick said angrily. Cathy ignored his anger, and looked him straight in the eyes. A look of realisation appeared on her face. 

"Of course- that's it!"

Nick immediately calmed down and let her speak.

"That's it! Rachel's angry at Greg because he doesn't condone what she did. He didn't back then- hence the prison riots, and he still doesn't! Rachel spent nine years of her life in prison and the one person she did it for, disagrees with what she did!"

Nick could see the pieces fitting together. Catherine started to walk away, saying

"I'll call Brass and the others"

Nick went back to the computer to print out copies of the two newspaper articles. As they printed out, Nick thought about the incident in the car, and the way Greg had behaved. A thought struck him as he tried to imagine the situation from Greg's point of view. He grabbed the documents and went to find Catherine. She had just put the phone down from Brass having filled him in and was about to ring Grissom.

"Cathy I was just thinking. I don't think Greg didn't tell anybody because he was scared of Rachel killing them too- I think he was protecting her."

"Protecting her?!"

Nick nodded, despite the incredulous look on Cathy's face.

"Even though he didn't condone what she did, Rachel is still his little sister, who he raised. Maybe he even felt guilty that she'd been in prison before."

"He raised her and she ended up killing two people."

Catherine said quietly. 

"He was just a kid!"

Nick defended forcefully. Cathy put a hand on his shoulder.

"Nicky- I know that, and you know that- but I bet Greg doesn't see it that way."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five  
  
Grissom lowered the mobile phone, and it slid from his hand onto the floor. He ignored it and stared at Greg. The doctors had only just brought him back from surgery and were attaching various wires to him. Grissom thought back over all the years that Greg had worked for him. He was good at his job, and at the same time he lit up the crime lab. He had always thought of Greg as an open person, but when he thought of the secret darkness of his past which had always been hanging over him, he wondered how Greg managed to remain so upbeat and positive. He stopped one of the nurses leaving the room.  
  
"Is he stable yet?"  
  
The nurse looked down.  
  
"We're still not sure if he's going to make it- but we're doing the best we can..."  
  
Grissom turned back to Greg. He was covered in scars and burns. He was 27. Was...Grissom cursed his own use of past tense. He IS 27. As the nurse left, Grissom stared completely silently at the lab tech, as tears formed and quietly rolled down his face. He felt guilty suddenly, for the times when he had taken out his frustrations on Greg. Yelling at him for things that weren't technically his fault, and Greg never once held bitterness against him for it. He promised himself that he would apologise to Greg as soon as he could. If he could...  
He wiped the tears away, seemingly just in time as Nick walked in holding the two newspaper articles. He gave them to Grissom who read them. Nick walked over to Greg.  
  
"Nicky, don't touch him- the nurses are still trying to stabilise him"  
  
Nick looked at the floor and tears welled up. Grissom stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. He led Nick back to the couch and they watched as the nurses came back in with various needles and equipment. The two nurses hooked him up to a second drip of blood, and injected him with some anonymous clear liquid. Grissom tried to find the right words to comfort Nick.  
  
"They're doing everything they can for him Nick."  
  
That was the only thing he could come up with and he mentally sighed at his comforting skills, or lack thereof. Nick wiped away the tears. They looked up at the commotion of the nurses.  
  
"We're losing him!"  
  
Nick and Grissom sat up in alarm.  
  
"He's gone..."  
  
Nick stood up and yelled  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
One of the nurses turned around and went over to them.  
  
"He's fallen into a coma."  
  
Nick closed his eyes and tried to get his heart to calm down.  
  
"We think it's not quite as bad as it sounds however. Whilst he's in a coma we will continue operate on him- we will probably keep him in a coma until we can be sure any brain damage has had a chance to heal. His body will have a chance to rest this way."  
  
Nick let this sink in before he asked the inevitable question.  
  
"Will he wake up?"  
  
"We cannot be sure until we run some more tests and find out how much brain damage there is."  
  
Nick nodded and sat back down next to Grissom.  
  
"He'll be going back into surgery in one hour, after he's had a chance to recover from the last one."  
  
The nurses left on that note. Sara, Cathy and Warrick entered. Warrick got straight to the point whilst Sara and Cathy wandered over to Greg and stood as close as they dared.  
  
"We got a fingerprint on Rachel Sanders, she did wear gloves but she took them off to twist one of the wires in the bomb. The police are out looking for her now."  
  
Warrick joined Sara and Cathy. Nick and Gil stood up and walked over to them, filling them in on Greg's condition.  
  
None of them knew what to say. Finally they decided to go home and get some sleep, knowing well that Greg would not wake up whilst they were sleeping.  
  
********************************************************************* Rachel slipped in to the hospital room where her brother lay defenceless. She glanced at the mobile on the floor, picked it up and put it on the sofa. She walked hesitantly to his bed-side but she dare not touch him.  
  
"Greg..."  
  
She whispered gently. She remembered the anger she felt towards her parents when they hurt him. When he used to put her to bed, his face would be bloody and bruised. But this time it hadn't been them. They hadn't done this to him- she had. She started to cry. Her confusion was overwhelming and she slid to the floor, head in hands. She heard the door open and looked up sharply.  
Grissom glared at her.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"  
  
He yelled. Grabbing her by her jumper he pulled her to her feet.  
  
"What did you do?!"  
  
He asked dangerously. Rachel was hysterical.  
  
"Nothing, nothing!!!...God...I'm so sorry...."  
  
He let her go, but backed her into a corner. Nick and Cathy entered the room. They had been waiting for Grissom when they heard the commotion.  
  
"What's going..."  
  
Cathy and Nick saw Rachel and they stopped in their tracks. Rachel was still sobbing her remorse.  
  
"I'm sorry I hurt Greg, I never...I just..."  
  
She continued to sob uncontrollably whilst the others looked on. Cathy was talking to Brass on her mobile, Nick continued to glare at Rachel despite her apparent regret and Grissom had returned to his blank expression. Rachel calmed herself down.  
  
"I'm handing myself in."  
  
She whispered quietly.  
  
"You don't have a lot of choice in the matter."  
  
Cathy said dryly. To the others' surprise Grissom helped Rachel up.  
  
"Miss Sanders I want to ensure you get psychological testing at the trial."  
  
She looked at him in shock.  
  
"What?"  
  
Grissom's voice had taken on a gentler tone.  
  
"Rachel. Would you ever hurt Greg?"  
  
"NO!"  
  
She said outraged. Nick pushed past Grissom angrily and pointed towards Greg.  
  
"Look at him! You did that to him- to the person who looked after you and protected you, you tried to *kill* him!!!"  
  
Rachel started crying again and Grissom pushed Nick back.  
  
"No, no I didn't....Greg always....stopped them hurting me and...they turned on him..."  
  
Her voice got quieter.  
  
"Rachel- you did try to kill Greg. The evidence tells us it was you and the evidence never lies. So either you're lying, or you're schizophrenic."  
  
He led her to a chair. They watched as she processed the information. Cathy realised that if there wasn't something psychologically wrong with Rachel she must be an incredibly good actress. They had all seen people lie, but Rachel wasn't showing any of the signs by which they could tell.  
  
"I remember doing it...but...but I thought...it was like I was dreaming- I couldn't stop it. And I felt so...angry."  
  
Brass chose this moment to burst through the door with two policemen behind him.  
  
"Jim, stop. Before you bring in Miss Sanders I think you should get her tested psychologically. We are in a hospital after all."  
  
Brass nodded but still handcuffed Rachel, and the four of them left, leaving space in the small room to breathe for those remaining there.  
  
TBC 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Grissom could only watch as his crime lab took on an air of silence, no matter how much noise was being made to cover it up. Nick looked tired. They all did- but Nick especially, Grissom didn't realise how close Greg and Nick were until now, and he suspected that neither had Nick. He was right.  
  
Nick stood in the doorway of the break room and just watched the world going by, blue Hawaiian coffee in hand. It had been two weeks. Nick imagined a tumble weed rolling down the corridor and was taken by surprise when Cathy tapped him on the shoulder so she could get by. She looked at him sympathetically.  
  
"He'll wake up Nicky."  
  
She said quietly before joining Warrick and wandering off to their next case. With every day that passed by it grew gradually less likely that Greg would wake up. When the phone rang Nick looked up. Maybe this time. Maybe it was the hospital calling to say Greg was ok, maybe....not. The call was put through to somewhere else, most likely a solicitor calling for their latest suspect.  
An hour later and it was the end of shift, at long last. The days dragged by so slowly without their sparky lab tech to brighten things up. He passed the lab on the way to his locker. Hearing his name being called he turned around. Grissom was jogging towards him.  
  
"Nick! Nicky wait up, the hospital called, Greg's awake! They say he should make a full recovery."  
  
Nick grabbed his things.  
  
"I'll go straight to the hospital."  
  
Grissom smiled.  
  
"Good, then you can give me a lift. Save petrol."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
When Greg woke up his first thoughts were of Rachel. His next thoughts were of working out where he was. A hospital, he concluded. Which meant that he wasn't dead. He mentally checked everything over. Did he know who he was? Yes. Good. Could he feel everything? Kind of...well it was quite hard to move, but he could still feel everything. Could he see hear and talk? First two, check...the third, he tried to say something but it came out as a cough. This alerted the nurses to his awakening and one rushed over.  
  
"Mr. Sanders? Can you hear me?"  
  
He coughed again for a while before croaking out a 'yes.'  
  
"Do you remember who you are and what happened?"  
  
Greg hesitated, and then nodded.  
  
"That's good news. Here, let me help you to sit up. I'm sure you're tired- you've been in a coma for the past two weeks."  
  
Greg wasn't sure how to react to this. What do you do when you wake up in a hospital and somebody tells you that you've been in a coma for two weeks? The nurse was right- he was tired. But he desperately wanted information on Rachel. Was she still trying to kill him? Was she back in jail? And what about his friends- did they now know his sister as a murdering convict, not as the caring, sweet girl she once was? He had so many questions that the nurse couldn't help him with. She'd been talking for the past five minutes but he wasn't listening. He caught the end of it- something about physiotherapy- but he didn't catch for how long.  
  
"Sorry, how long will I be in physio?"  
  
The nurse didn't seem to mind.  
  
"3 weeks."  
  
"Ok. Thanks."  
  
Greg didn't like the sound of his voice. It was croaky, not like normal. He coughed.  
  
"Can I have visitors?"  
  
His voice was slowly returning back to normal. The nurse replied that he could and she would help him have a shower before they got here if he wanted. Greg agreed, hoping it would wake him up a little before his friends arrived. It was strange to him that such a simple task was so difficult, and painful.  
The nurse, Karen, repeatedly told him to go easy but he wasn't used to 'going easy'- usually he would roll out of bed, the floor waking him up enough to realise he was late, swear, adrenaline would take him through the shower and through to breakfast, grabbing whatever out of the fridge and breathing out when he go to the car. He thought of his home- it was gone now. The thought depressed him. It may not have been much- but it was his home, with his things, his CDs and TV, his laptop...and now they were all gone. His pictures of Rachel before she turned into a murderer.  
  
The feeling of warm water made him feel a little better; at least he wasn't dead, or paralyzed. In fact he was pretty lucky. Eventually he got back, surprised that he was exhausted after the shower expedition. Nick and Grissom burst through the door with such energy that it made Greg feel even more tired.  
  
"Hey."  
  
He said casually. Nick laughed and ran over to him.  
  
"You're awake!"  
  
He said, at last allowing himself to believe it.  
  
"I don't think I will be for much longer though. I'm really tired, sorry."  
  
Grissom came out of the background and stepped forward.  
  
"Don't apologise Greg. Look- we brought grapes and flowers."  
  
Greg smiled. Then he asked the questions he needed to know the answer to.  
  
"I guess you know about Rachel now, huh?"  
  
Nick and Grissom looked at each other and nodded an affirmative.  
  
"And we know about your parents, we saw some articles from a few years back in th..."  
  
"The Daily Post, yeah I remember that..."  
  
Greg tried to think exactly how much was revealed in that article as the other two looked on with embarrassment. Greg looked at them slightly bemused.  
  
"You don't have to be embarrassed you know. I don't feel like you've invaded my privacy. You did what you had to right?"  
  
They nodded but still looked down.  
  
"Guys, that part of my life is over. It's history- it doesn't matter now."  
  
Nick sighed.  
  
"But you didn't tell me about Rachel, Greg. You knew it was her, and you knew she was trying to kill you. She nearly did."  
  
Greg nodded understanding.  
  
"The thing is...well I guess there are several reasons. For one thing I thought maybe I could talk Rachel out of it. I didn't want her to go back to jail; she really hated it in there. Also...I didn't want you to think of Rachel as some mad murdering convict, because I still think of her as the sweet, generous and helpful girl she used to be. In retrospect it seems kind of stupid, huh."  
  
"No it doesn't, - you were protecting your little sister-"  
  
As always Nick rushed to his defence, but Greg laughed bitterly.  
  
"Yeah. I guess I should stay away from having kids."  
  
Grissom felt suddenly angry and interjected.  
  
"Greg listen to me. Your sister is not evil- she's schizophrenic. For the most part she is a wonderful person, smart, compassionate and enthusiastic. She got that from you. Unfortunately, your parents had a very negative effect on her, and the other side of her is spiteful and violent. She's at a place called Waterside Retreat. It's an institution for mentally disabled patients, they are hoping that Rachel will recover fully one day."  
  
Grissom paused to let Greg absorb this information, then continued.  
  
"If it weren't for your influence Rachel would have turned out just like your parents. It's not your fault she murdered them, and tried to murder you- and it's not your fault she went to prison. I know you would be a great father if you ever had kids."  
  
Greg didn't say anything. The fact that he was tired didn't help the issue as tears welled up in his eyes. After a while he said quietly  
  
"I want to see her."  
  
"You have to get better first Greg. Then maybe you can help Rachel recover. We've been to see her- it's a wonderful place, she seems happy enough there- says it better than prison. I think she's writing a book."  
  
Greg smiled a little.  
  
"It's not that I don't appreciate you coming but I'm really tired so..."  
  
Nick put the flowers in a vase on the windowsill and the grapes on his bedside table.  
  
"Sure, we'll let you get some rest buddy."  
  
The two of them left to ring the others with the news, and Greg slept like a log.  
  
TBC 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6  
  
Cathy had a sense of déja-vu as she wandered into the hospital, but felt at peace knowing it wasn't her fault this time. Everybody else seemed to assume that after he had recovered, Greg would just bounce back and get straight to work again, as though nothing had happened. Cathy on the other hand was seriously concerned for Greg on a psychological level. She knew how Lindsey had been after the split up with Eddie, and could only wonder about the effect of Greg's violent childhood. It had certainly had an impact on Rachel, and she hadn't even been the recipient.  
  
She thought deeply about the Greg people saw at work. He didn't seem to be the result of years of abuse, so how did he deal with his past? Cathy had pondered this long and hard ever since the explosion. She wondered if Greg had a counsellor.  
Finally a lift came along that she could get into. The 'hospital smell' was even more pungent in the small squashed space of the lift.  
Walking towards Greg's room, different thoughts spun like a hurricane in Catherine's mind. They stopped dead when she reached the room.  
  
She stood in the doorway and stared. Greg was having a nightmare, tossing and turning with tears streaming down his face, he showed no signs of waking. Should she? Catherine hesitated for a few seconds only before rushing to wake him up. She touched him, jumping back when he yelled  
  
"Get away from me!"  
  
She recovered quickly though, and doubts passing through her mind- was it that you shouldn't wake people from a nightmare?- she went back to trying to wake him.  
  
"Greg, it's Catherine - wake up!"  
  
Greg jolted awake suddenly, startling her.  
  
"It's ok, it was just a nightmare, Greg it's me- Cathy."  
  
He looked down, apparently a little embarrassed.  
  
"I thought you might want some company."  
  
She stated, trying to break the tension. Greg didn't look up and didn't say anything. To say that he seemed down would be an understatement, as the two sat in silence for a moment.  
  
"You wanna talk about it?"  
  
Greg didn't respond. Cathy waited patiently.  
  
"It was just a nightmare."  
  
He said at last. He sounded different. There was no hint of cheeriness at all- his tone was completely serious.  
  
"How often do you have nightmares Greg?"  
  
He didn't look up but gave the impression of being uncomfortable. He coughed and then asked  
  
"Well...how often do you get them?"  
  
Catherine could see Greg wasn't used to talking about things like this.  
  
"Rarely. About twice a month maximum."  
  
She replied, and tried to judge the look on his face.  
  
"What about you?"  
  
She prompted, as Greg fidgeted.  
  
"About..."  
  
He seemed reluctant to tell her, but tiredly gave in.  
  
"Every other night."  
  
Cathy tried her best not to show the shock she felt within. Although she had partly expected the answer, this side of Greg was still new to her, and she was still chilled by the answer.  
  
"Greg..."  
  
"Please don't. I'm tired and I don't want to listen to all of the 'you need help because I say so' speeches, ok?"  
  
Catherine sighed and ran a hand through her hair.  
  
"It helps to talk about things. I won't laugh at you or pity you if you tell me what the nightmare was about."  
  
Greg sighed. He looked back down to his 'oh-so-interesting bed sheets'. Another long pause whilst Greg decided whether or not to tell her, and Catherine worried about whether she was going about this whole situation in the right way. Greg sighed.  
  
"Fine....It started off with my mom and dad hitting me, but then they sort of...merged, and suddenly it wasn't them hitting me but Rachel. Then all of a sudden there was this huge explosion, and I fell down my apartment block stairs, although for some reason...I.I landed outside the lab. And then..."  
  
He hesitated.  
  
"...well my parents and Rachel were yelling at me to get up, but I couldn't; they just kept yelling anyway. Then my father walked towards me, whilst I was lying on the ground and he looked so angry...and then...then you woke me up."  
  
Greg finished. He looked somewhere between ashamed and embarrassed.  
  
"Do you ever talk to anyone about these nightmares?"  
  
Catherine asked, genuinely concerned.  
  
"No..."  
  
Was Greg's mumbled reply. Cathy couldn't help it- She had to ask  
  
"How do you do it Greg? Stay cheerful, make people laugh, I've never seen you angry let alone violent- how come you didn't end up like your parents?"  
  
Greg answered her forcefully, looking straight at her.  
  
"Because I hated my parents. I promised myself that I would never end up like them."  
  
Cathy nodded, not quite sure how to respond to this, so she moved on instead.  
  
"How do you deal with the nightmares?"  
  
"I don't know. I've always had them I guess. I can't remember a time when I didn't have nightmares so they don't really...bother me that much any more. I'm used to them."  
  
Greg closed his eyes. Cathy could see he was tired and felt a little guilty about keeping him up. But she didn't believe Greg and told him as much.  
  
"It's not like a sore arm which you can get used to- because nightmares change."  
  
"Not always."  
  
Greg added, immediately regretting it.  
  
"Not always? Do you have recurring nightmares?"  
  
Greg coughed.  
  
"Sometimes. But I really *do not* want to talk about them. Please Catherine, I really appreciate you coming but I need to get some...proper sleep."  
  
Cathy was reluctant to leave, but the pleading look in Greg's eyes finally became too much, so she made a compromise.  
  
"Get some sleep...we'll continue this conversation later."  
  
Greg didn't look happy about the situation but was too tired to argue.  
  
TBC please please please R and R! 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight  
  
Special thanks to my inspirational friend Assume nothing :D And btw- Henrika- I don't know where you come from but in this country (England) it's tradition to give people in hospitals grapes....don't know why...but it is. *shrugs*. As to the other things, well I just thought it would be good to have some variety, and grammar or spelling mistakes- blame my beta Krazykid197 ;-) who incidentally I must congratulate on her knew found psychic abilities, having effectively, and extremely annoyingly *guessed* the plotline to this chapter :( Keep the reviews coming...or my self esteem goes downhill and I can't write.  
  
Greg rubbed his tired eyes as he sat up in bed alone. It was night time, but machines still buzzed and bleeped in the background. He guessed his body clock was too used to the nightshift working times for as tired as he was, he couldn't sleep. The thought of the personal information he had given away recently to his friends made him uncomfortable- usually he had a guard up but-  
  
His thoughts were interrupted. A shuffling noise from behind the curtain caused him to tense up immediately and his heart rate doubled. Frozen in fear, he watched as his sister emerged.  
  
"Sorry to wake you Greg..."  
  
She whispered, and Greg let his guard down considerably.  
  
"You didn't wa-"  
  
"No really, I'm very sorry to wake you."  
  
Greg looked at her in confusion. She explained  
  
"It's really much more painful this way."  
  
Covering his mouth with her hand Rachel brought out a knife and an overwhelming fear took over him as he panicked. The knife came towards him and all he could do was watch helplessly. He felt the cold metal sting as his skin broke in two at the knife's command, deeper and deeper.  
  
Greg sat bolt upright and screamed.  
  
Opening his eyes he found a nurse by his side, talking at him. He tried to calm his breathing. Eventually she went away and Greg cried himself back to sleep.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
The tear streaks were still visible when Grissom arrived to the still sleeping form of Greg. Grissom sighed. He went outside to the other CSI's.  
  
"I think it's time we did something about Greg's emotional state. He is suppressing his feelings and I'm growing increasingly concerned."  
  
Nick and Warrick shared with them their experience. Catherine told them vaguely of her experience but remained all too aware of her promise to Greg not to tell anyone.  
  
"I went in when he was having a nightmare- he told me he gets them every other day."  
  
"Every other day?!"  
  
Sara repeated incredulously. She got passionate about the traumas and problems of strangers let alone one of her friends. Catherine nodded.  
  
"But what can *we* do?"  
  
"Well the first thing to do when he's let out tomorrow is to take him to see Rachel. I doubt he'll give us much choice anyway, but seeing her may get him to open up a little."  
  
Grissom in his usual way managed to treat the whole thing like a case. The others nodded, but still seemed dubious about the plan. None of them had a better idea though- they were not psychologists after all.  
  
They looked in through the window and saw Greg had woken up. They filed into the small room; Greg looked up at them with blood shot eyes and gave a painfully fake smile. The CSI's let Nick take over.  
  
"Hey Greggo, feeling any better? You're being let out tomorrow..."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Listen, we thought you might like to go and see Rachel tomorrow:-"  
  
"I want to see her as soon as I get out."  
  
"That's what we figured, we'll all go. Griss has got to know her pretty well over the past few weeks; I've visited a couple of times as well."  
  
After that, Greg seemed to perk up a little and the slightly relieved CSI's took advantage of the moment- even managing to get one or two laughs out of him before they left, feeling content for the most part, or at least hopeful.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
As they approached the building, Greg decided looked around, and decided it wasn't bad. The path they were currently walking on led on to a river after the crossroads, with overhanging trees. He was sure it would look quite picturesque were it not for the fact that today was grey, cloudy, and absolutely chucking it down with rain.  
Walking quickly towards the shelter of the large house, the CSI's didn't notice Greg had fallen behind until they reached the front door and porch. Greg still had at least five more physiotherapy sessions to go; Warrick ran back to help him out. A short, brown haired young woman greeted them into the warm dry hallway, and the shivering CSI's made polite small-talk whilst Greg fidgeted nervously.  
Leading them up to the room, the lady, Karen, was telling them about how Rachel stayed mainly up in her room, but seemed a pleasant enough girl. Grissom kept a close eye on his lab tech.  
When they went in, the others gave Greg space. The first thing they noticed was Rachel crying, she seemed to be absolutely devastated about something. Greg ran over to her and put his arms round her, but if anything this made her worse. The observant CSI's noticed the rat poison and note. Grissom picked both up but didn't read the note. Karen raced downstairs to call an ambulance. Gil confronted her with the poison.  
  
"Rachel did you take this?"  
  
Still desolated, she nodded slowly.  
  
"Rachel!"  
  
Greg choked. He held her as she managed to calm herself down slightly.  
  
"I'm sorry Greg, I'm so sorry..."  
  
Grissom saw the paleness of her skin and the heavy breathing and knew Rachel did not have long. He also knew that Greg would see this as well.  
  
"I didn't mean to"  
  
Rachel whispered, and Gil felt each word deeply.  
  
"I just, I was confused, I never meant to hurt you Greg."  
  
She went on, choking on the words. Greg was in tears as well now, and slowly, Rachel became too weak to sit up.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."  
  
She whispered again.  
  
Greg still held her as she went limp, and became a whiter shade of pale.  
  
"Rachel-No! RACHEL!"  
  
Tears streaming down his face Greg pushed his way out of the room and ran. Grissom yelled after him, but Greg kept on running.  
  
Into the rain, he ran and ran until he knew he was completely alone. Sitting down in the middle of nowhere, an empty field of soggy grass, Greg became painfully aware of what his physiotherapist had meant when she'd told him it was 'best not to over-exert himself'. He didn't care though. He was freezing cold and wet, but it didn't matter to him. In one moment of depression, Rachel had done something she afterwards deeply regretted, but could not prevent.  
  
His sister was dead.  
  
TBC 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
After a couple hours, Greg began to feel tired, and lay down in the dirt. Slowly the rain turned into snowfall and day into night but Greg stayed sat where he was. He saw a figure coming towards him and didn't quite know what to do. The figure was Catherine, and at first she seemed angry, but that anger dissipated as she got closer. Greg could barely focus on what was happening around him. He heard her yelling, and more people arrived. He was vaguely aware of a blanket being wrapped around him,  
  
"Leave me alone!"  
  
He said angrily.  
  
The CSIs were not deterred however, in fact, this made them even more concerned. Greg turned to go to sleep but the CSIs shouted at him. Warrick and Nick helped him up.  
  
"Come on; let's get you to a hospital."  
  
Greg continued to protest until once again he found himself in a hospital bed, gradually being warmed up. _____________________________________________________________________  
  
In the waiting room the CSI's argued.  
  
"Grissom, this is all your fault!"  
  
Catherine stated boldly.  
  
"Catherine calm down, I just thought Greg needed some time alone."  
  
"Yeah alone. In a field- In the cold without a coat on the first day released from the hospital great idea Gil!"  
  
"I assumed he would find his way home- I didn't see you objecting at the time!"  
  
Warrick, Nick and Sara glanced at each other before standing up, interrupting the pair. Sara stood in between them.  
  
"Guys, this isn't helping."  
  
Catherine sighed.  
  
"I know I know, I just- I'm worried about Greg. And not just physically, either."  
  
"We all are Cath"  
  
Nick led her to a chair. But they hadn't seen the look in Greg's eyes when she had found him. The sparkle of light, hope and happiness which always brightened her day had gone out. And the prospect of it never coming back terrified Catherine to the core.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Greg, fully warmed up and recovered, sat in the hospital bed facing the CSI's, avoiding their stares.  
  
"Greg, what the hell do you think you were doing? You could have died out there!"  
  
Sara broke through the silence.  
  
Greg sighed and looked at the ceiling.  
  
"So."  
  
He said.  
  
"Do you have any idea how guilty and upset we would have been?!"  
  
Sara's voice rose and Nick placed a hand on her arm to remind her to stay calm.  
  
"I know. I'm sorry."  
  
Greg replied quickly, as though it were a natural response. They could see that his anger and upset over the loss of his sister was conflicting with his true nature, causing confusion. Sara calmed down and felt bad for yelling at him.  
  
"I'm sorry Greg, I didn't mean to yell. It's just that we're your friends, we were worried about you."  
  
And then added quietly.  
  
"We are worried about you."  
  
Greg tiredly sat up and got out of bed, to their surprise.  
  
"I want to go home. The nurse dried my clothes, can one of you give me a lift?"  
  
Grissom glanced at the others before saying:  
  
"Uh, Greg you don't have a house to go back to...I've got a spare bedroom, you can stay at mine until you get a new place."  
  
Greg looked even more dejected as Sara offered to go and get the few things that had survived the explosion, and the forms to hand over all of Rachel's things to Greg, the receiver of her will.  
  
"Get changed, I'll wait for you downstairs."  
  
As they shuffled outside to allow Greg to get changed, Sara began to cry. She hated seeing her friend like this. Almost suicidal. She felt hurt for the things Greg had had to go through, she knew the others did too, but she couldn't keep how she felt locked up any longer. Nick put his arms around her and tried to comfort her as best he could. Grissom would have, but he was deep in thought.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Greg unpacked his things in his temporary bedroom. It didn't take long. He sat down tiredly. There was a knock on the door, and Grissom entered. The expression on his face was one Greg found hard to describe, but when he spoke there was an authority in his voice that Greg was used to from work.  
  
"Tell me about her."  
  
"I don't..."  
  
"No, I mean it. Tell me about her."  
  
The confident tone of Grissom's voice annoyed Greg; how dare he?  
  
"No."  
  
Greg replied, unable to hide his anger.  
  
"I want to know!"  
  
"Well I don't want to tell you, we're not at work now, I don't have to do what you say!"  
  
Greg's voice rose in frustration. Grissom's tone changed to include disappointment.  
  
"I always thought of you as...such an open person Greg."  
  
Greg paused, then said  
  
"You're wrong. Sure I tell you the facts- I tell you what you ask but I never tell you about how I feel, I've never talked to anyone about anything that actually matters."  
  
"Then tell me now."  
  
"I can't!!"  
  
Frustrated and tired, Greg angrily wiped away the tears as he said  
  
"You don't understand."  
  
"Because you won't help me understand. Rachel was my friend too Greg."  
  
Greg shot him a look of pure fury.  
  
"Goddamit she was the only member of my family I cared about- hell the only one left!!! She was more than my sister, she was my best friend and you think after a few days you think you know how I feel?!!!"  
  
Greg was screaming now and Grissom felt guilty, but knew he had to continue now.  
  
"If you were such great friends, then why did she kill herself to get away from you?"  
  
Greg froze.  
  
"...She....she didn't mean to she didn't.....mean....to....."  
  
Greg repeated, finally breaking down. Grissom drew closer to put an arm round his shoulder.  
  
"I know, I'm sorry Greg."  
  
TBC- Thanks to all those of you who have reviewed, {{{{{Reviewers}}}}} And you might want to thank Krazykid197 (Krazy) who's been bugging me for this chapter, I managed to squeeze it in just to shut her up ;)  
  
Krazy- But it's for your own good. Sparky-How? Krazy- Because if you hadn't posted I would have killed Greg. Sparky- You wouldn't. Krazy- I would. Or maybe Harper? *runs away, as a maniacal Sparky, tries to kill her* 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
"I'm sorry Greg."  
  
Grissom repeated, but Greg went on as if he wasn't even there, letting years of pain out. Grissom felt his pain and was enraged. How could anyone do this to somebody so good-natured? Greg was curled up in a ball, and Grissom had to wonder if he would ever be the same again.  
  
"I had to say those things."  
  
Greg still didn't say anything.  
  
"We were worried that if you kept suppressing you would...explode."  
  
"In your professional opinion."  
  
Greg blurted out bitterly, though afterwards looked like he regretted saying it.  
  
"Greg, I've seen a lot of cases where the murderers have been the victims of child abuse- 50% of prisoners were abused as a child. The anger builds up inside until they have to vent it somehow. I've seen people go insane for the same reasons; I didn't want that to happen to you."  
  
"Oh, so just because my parents were sadistic freaks that makes me a murderer?!"  
  
"No I'm just saying that because you were abused constantly throughout your childhood, have been blown up twice, nearly murdered by your own sister who then committed suicide in a burst of depression...."  
  
Grissom stopped when he realised what his list was doing to Greg, who now had his head in hands, tears starting up again from the tactless onslaught of memories Grissom had thrown at him. Gil sighed.  
  
"Greg, what you have had to suffer in 27 years- nobody should have to go through, but you can't just act like none of it happened and hope the nightmares will go away."  
  
Grissom touched his shoulder but Greg jerked away from him.  
  
"Please...could you just....leave me alone?"  
  
Greg asked quietly.  
  
"Of course."  
  
And with that Grissom left.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
The next morning Greg got up early and made himself coffee. Grissom's house wasn't quite how he'd expected it to be. It wasn't as...dark- in fact it was a nice house with quite a bright atmosphere. It was certainly as organised as he'd thought though; no clutter anywhere, not like his apartment had been. Grissom came down and glanced at the coffee.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
He said sarcastically, as he moved to make himself one.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Greg said quickly and Grissom glanced at him.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
"Yep. Yes. Fine. Just....um, how are you?"  
  
Gil stared at him. He was noticeably on edge, although trying not to show it.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
Gil replied. He had a feeling that Greg knew he wasn't fooling anybody when he smiled slightly and said:  
  
"Great."  
  
Grissom frowned.  
  
"Greg, you know I didn't mean those things I said to you, right?"  
  
Greg nodded.  
  
"It was just the only way I could think of to get you to open up...."  
  
Again Greg nodded.  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
Greg opened his mouth, but quickly shut it again and stared at his coffee mug.  
  
"I-It's just..."  
  
Greg fidgeted.  
  
"You reminded me of my father last night."  
  
A chill ran up Grissom's spine at the revelation.  
  
"I mean I know you're...I just can't..."  
  
"It's ok Greg, I understand. I'm truly sorry I had to do what I did. It was one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do."  
  
There was an uncomfortable silence as neither knew what to say. Finally Greg broke it, hating the awkward atmosphere that had arisen.  
  
"Um, so work starts in half an hour so we'd best get going, huh."  
  
"You can take a few days off Greg."  
  
"No, I don't want to. I can't hang around your house all day moping."  
  
Grissom looked him in the eye.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
Greg nodded, and Grissom decided that at least at work he could watch over the young lab tech.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Greg!"  
  
Nick said in surprise. Warrick turned around along with everybody else in the vicinity who had heard Nick's announcement.  
  
"Grissom made you come into work?!"  
  
Warrick said incredulously. Greg looked at the increasing crowd of people surrounding him nervously.  
  
"No, I wanted to come into work."  
  
Grissom came towards the crowd and most of the bystanders leapt back to work, to Grissom's slight amusement. The only ones in front of him now were the CSI's and Archie. Archie put a hand on his shoulder in concern.  
  
"Are you sure you're ok Greg? I don't mind covering for you."  
  
"Thanks Archie but I couldn't. I've got standards to keep up you know."  
  
Greg teased lightly and Archie raised his eyebrows in mock indignation.  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
They laughed and nearly carried on talking but Grissom coughed and they took the hint.  
  
"I'll talk to you later Greg, it's good to see you back."  
  
Archie smiled and left, while Grissom motioned the others into his office.  
  
"Here are tonight's case files, Nick you're with Catherine, Warrick with me and Sara with Greg."  
  
"I'm going out in the field?!"  
  
Greg asked with such enthusiasm the other CSI's smiled.  
  
"Greg, we'd been planning to let you out in the field for a while, well, before recent events shall we say. And about that- I think I speak for everyone here when I say if you ever need anything, we're here."  
  
The others nodded in agreement. Greg smiled and Catherine had to restrain the grin she felt coming on. She didn't know what Grissom had done it, but he had definitely something; the sparkle in Greg's eyes had found its way home.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
He said genuinely, and on that note the CSI's made for the door.  
  
"There's...one more thing."  
  
They turned back to face Greg.  
  
"It's Rachel's funeral next week, I want you all to come."  
  
At their surprised looks he explained.  
  
"For support. And also because...well if you don't come I'll be the only one there, I guess you guys were the closest she ever came to having friends, even though you only visited her a few times."  
  
"Sure."  
  
They mutually replied, except for Grissom, who spoke up.  
  
"Does that include me?"  
  
Greg paused at the unexpected question.  
  
"I hear you visited Rach the most out of anybody. Of course you can come; Rachel would have wanted you there."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
The others watched the exchange with curiosity, as Greg shifted slightly. He thought about his answer carefully.  
  
"..I want you to come as well..."  
  
He decided, although there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice that the CSI's couldn't help but notice. Grissom just nodded. As the others made for the door Catherine moved over to Grissom. Nick and Warrick stood in the doorway.  
  
"You guys coming?"  
  
"We'll be right there, just give us a minute."  
  
Catherine replied, and they left. At first Catherine just looked at him, as if she had already asked a question and was awaiting the answer. As he didn't, she prompted him.  
  
"So you gonna tell me what you did?"  
  
Grissom gave her an innocent look, but she wasn't fooled, so he gave in.  
  
"I just had a talk with him."  
  
"A talk? That's it?"  
  
Catherine said with obvious disbelief.  
  
"Well, I was trying to provoke him into letting out his emotions."  
  
"You deliberately upset him."  
  
Catherine stated almost angrily, but not quite. Gil shrugged.  
  
"It worked."  
  
Catherine frowned slightly  
  
"Well I guess I can't argue with that. There must have been a better way though. Did you see how he acted towards you? He's even more scared of you than he was before!"  
  
"Catherine believe me, I couldn't think of any other way. It wasn't easy, but I thought it was in Greg's best interests."  
  
Catherine sighed.  
  
"You're right Gil, though to be honest I'm not sure I could have done it."  
  
There was a comfortable silence between them for a moment as each reflected.  
  
"Do you think he will ever be the same again Cath? I couldn't sleep thinking about it. What if I've just made it worse?"  
  
Catherine put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Gil, he was happier today than he has been in a while. He'll get through this."  
  
Grissom nodded, and they left the office.  
  
THE END  
  
Krazy- You finally finished it. Took you long enough. Sparky- You are never happy are you? Krazy- Nope, but you love me really. Sparky- And you didn't kill Greg Krazy- Course not, what do you take me for, a mad woman? Second thoughts, don't answer that. Sparky- Oh well, that's all folks, R&R. 


End file.
